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Thomas
Thomas is a tank engine that works on both the Island of Sodor and Crotoonia's Inkblotia-Celgreb City Branchline Personality Thomas is the No. 1 blue engine. He is a cheeky little engine who often gets into scrapes, usually by being over-eager to do things best left to bigger and more sensible engines. But clouds never last long in Thomas' world and soon he's bustling about again, playing his part in the yard and on his very own branch line. Thomas works hard and he always strives to be a Really Useful Engine. Technical Details Basis Thomas is based on the LB&SCR Class E2 0-6-0T, particularly the second batch of locomotives built with extended side-tanks. These engines were built by Brighton Works between 1913-1916 to replace the ageing Stroudley E1 class and were primarily used for heavy shunting and short-distance goods trains in the London area and on the south coast. During their final working years, the E2 class worked as shunting engines at Southampton Docks alongside the USATC S100 Tank Engines (Rosie's basis), until they were replaced by the BR Class 07 diesel shunters (Salty's basis). All of the E2s were scrapped, with none surviving into preservation. Thomas has several major differences from the original E2 class. He is much shorter in length than his original basis, he has two extra windows on the sides of his cab and he has wheel splashers, something the E2 class lacked. In early volumes of The Railway Series and the television series, Thomas' footplate is dipped at the front, but oddly enough is not dipped at the back. In Branch Line Engines, his footplate was levelled out from smokebox to bunker. However in Crotoonia, a replica of his class works at Pinewood Island. Another can be seen in the slag pit at the steelworks. 1015995E-F1AD-446B-B268-FC9E33EF6DDD.jpeg|Thomas' basis Livery Thomas is painted in NWR sky blue with red lining. His number is painted on the sides of his tanks in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow. In The Adventure Begins, Thomas was originally painted teal-green with white lining. He had the initials "LBSC" and the number 70 painted on the sides of his tanks and cab respectively in yellow with red lining and his wheel rims were painted white. In the first three seasons of the television series, Thomas had red lining on the back of his coal bunker, but during production of the third season episode, All at Sea, the lining was removed. The lining was later re-added to him in The Adventure Begins. Voice Actors *John Hasler (UK) *Joseph May (US) Trivia *Thomas was the first character in the Railway Series to have a number. According to Brian Sibley, Awdry used the number one because it was the easiest to draw. *Thomas was the first character introduced in the television series. *Christopher Awdry lost the original Thomas toy when he was in the United States. However, it was recreated in 2015 for a 70th anniversary sizzle. The second version of the original toy was made as a thank you gift by Michael White. *Thomas' LBSC number, 70, was actually carried by a real LB&SCR locomotive, an A1 named "Poplar" currently preserved by the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The number also represents the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series. *According to Sir Topham Hatt on the 2001 Official Website, Thomas was given his name by the engine workshop which built him. *Thomas is one of the few characters to appear and speak in every season and special. *A Wooden Railway toy of Thomas along with one of Stepney's appeared in the second season of The Big Bang Theory in the thirteenth episode, The Friendship Algorithm. *An Ertl toy of Thomas along with one of James' also appeared in the sixth season of Full House in the fifteenth episode, Be True to Your Preschool. *Thomas went through several aesthetic changes in the television series: **Season 1: ***He had a real looking brake pipe, which was tilted down so that it didn't touch the face. ***He shared the footsteps design with Percy. **Season 2: ***He gained a smaller brake pipe on both front and back. ***The blue supports under his whistle became gold. **Season 3: ***His footsteps got smaller. ***After Trust Thomas, the lining on the back of his bunker was removed. ***He gains a buck tooth on his shocked face. **Thomas and the Magic Railroad: ***He slightly increased in size ***His wheels became bigger. ***His eyebrows became thicker. ***The gold supports under his whistle became blue again. ***His front windows became the same height as his back windows. ***The buck tooth on his shocked face disappears for the rest of the model era. **Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (large scale model only): ***His lamp becomes bigger. ***His brake pipe and buffers are bigger. ***There is a hole on the left side of his running board. ***His funnel is larger. ***The resin faces used in the sixth season were modified. **Season 7: ***His wheels go back to their original size. **Season 11: ***His whistle was lowered closer to the boiler. **Hero of the Rails: ***His cab is open. ***He goes back to his original size. ***His number 1 became slightly smaller, and the red lining becomes thicker. ***He gained visible inside motion. **The Adventure Begins: ***The lining on the back of his bunker returned. ***His side rods become silver. **Journey Beyond Sodor: ***A bunker hatch was added in his cab. *Following Mr. Conductor in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Thomas became the second character to narrate in first-person. Category:Characters